Pritchard paints off-the-cut at Perimeter

Aug 20, 2014

New York painter Ben Pritchard brings a new body of work to Belfast’s Perimeter Gallery.

Belfast — New York painter Ben Pritchard will return to Perimeter Gallery Thursday, Aug. 28, with a show of new abstract paintings titled “Cut Off Cuts.” There will be an opening reception that evening from 6 to 8 p.m.

Pritchard describes his paintings as accumulations of memory and energy and thinking in paint developed over time. This body of work began with off-cut pieces of plywood collected from construction sites routinely passed by. Pritchard would make paintings on them briefly at night before falling asleep, letting a fatigued state drive his impulses. The next morning, they would be transported to his studio for further development, but with the aim of maintaining the original intentions arrived at after a long day, “when logic slips away and other types of thinking come in.”

In the last several years, Pritchard has exhibited extensively in New York, Los Angeles and London. Previously, he studied then taught at the New York Studio School. In 2006, he began advanced study in painting at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, where he was awarded the Jerwood Painting Prize in 2009.

“Cut Off Cuts” will run through Oct. 12. Perimeter Gallery is located in Chase’s Daily, at 96 Main St. Open hours are Tuesdays through Sundays from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Sundays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information, call 338-0986.